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47-647: The Rush franchise has a long history in the NLL, a league historically known for frequent expansion and relocations. Founded in the late 1990s in New York as the Syracuse Smash , the last-place team was bought and moved, and became the Ottawa Rebel in time for the 2001 season. The perennially-struggling franchise became inactive after 2003, and in 2005 was bought by Bruce Urban and relocated to Alberta, becoming

94-713: A 1–2 record, their lone win coming over the Mooseheads, and they lost to the Knights in a tiebreaker, failing to advance to the semi-final. The Mooseheads won the Memorial Cup with a 6–4 victory over the Winterhawks. The tournament boasted the fourth-highest attendance to date in tournament history. The Blades have longstanding rivalries with the Regina Pats and Prince Albert Raiders, the two teams closest to

141-778: A Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Saskatoon , Saskatchewan . Founded in 1964, the Blades were a charter team of the then-Western Canada Junior Hockey League in 1966, and are the only club that has played every season in the league in its original location. Today, the team plays in the East Division of the Western Hockey League 's Eastern Conference, and hosts games at the SaskTel Centre . Despite five regular season titles and five appearances in

188-776: A Pride night on 22 January. During the 2012–13 season, the Blades held a fan jersey design contest; the team wore the winning jersey, designed by Fabio Burà, during a game on 2 February 2013. The Blades' mascot is a yeti named Poke Check. Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against General Manager: Colin Priestner Head Coach: Dan DaSilva Associate Coach: TBA Assistant Coach: Wacey Rabbit Assistant Coach: Jerome Engele Bernie Federko

235-405: A bison head. The team unveiled new jerseys alongside the re-brand. The Rush reached deals with Saskatoon Media Group 's CKBL-FM and SaskTel to broadcast its 2016 playoff games. In the subsequent season, the team began to carry radio broadcasts of all games on its sister station CJMK-FM , with Tanner Fetch as play-by-play announcer. The team returned to CKBL-FM for 2018–19 with Dave Thomas as

282-549: A dynastic New Westminster Bruins team that made four straight Memorial Cup finals appearances from 1975 to 1978. McLeod's last season behind the bench was 1978–79, when the Blades lost the Division final to the eventual champion and Memorial Cup-finalist Brandon Wheat Kings . In 1980, the Brodsky family, which had become majority owners in 1976, took over sole ownership of the club, which they would retain until 2013. Despite

329-4910: A member of the National Lacrosse League from 1998 to 2000 . They were based in Syracuse, New York . The team finished last in the standings each of their three seasons, before moving to Ottawa, Ontario to become the Ottawa Rebel . In their three seasons in the NLL, the Smash never won a game on the road. All time Record [ edit ] Season Division W-L Finish Home Road GF GA Coach Playoffs 1998   2-10 7th 2-4 0-6 163 219 Kevin Alexander Missed playoffs 1999   3-9 7th 3-3 0-6 161 198 Freeman Bucktooth, Pat Donahue, Steve Scaramuzzino Missed playoffs 2000   1-11 8th 1-5 0-6 135 207 Pat Donahue Missed playoffs Total 3 seasons 6-30   6-12 0-18 459 624   Schedule [ edit ] 1998 schedule [ edit ] Game Date Opponent Location Score OT Attendance Record 1 January 3, 1998 @ Baltimore Thunder 1st Mariner Arena L 13–23 2,954 0–1 2 January 10, 1998 @ Rochester Knighthawks Blue Cross Arena L 12–17 6,836 0–2 3 January 17, 1998 Rochester Knighthawks Oncenter War Memorial Arena W 14–12 4,671 1–2 4 January 24, 1998 Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) Oncenter War Memorial Arena L 15–17 3,755 1–3 5 January 30, 1998 Baltimore Thunder Oncenter War Memorial Arena L 11–20 4,743 1–4 6 January 31, 1998 @ New York Saints Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum L 10–23 7,857 1–5 7 February 13, 1998 @ Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) Wachovia Center L 11–14 13,213 1–6 8 February 21, 1998 New York Saints Oncenter War Memorial Arena W 19–17 3,914 2–6 9 March 7, 1998 @ Ontario Raiders Copps Coliseum L 11–15 3,416 2–7 10 March 27, 1998 Ontario Raiders Oncenter War Memorial Arena L 21–22 OT 4,211 2–8 11 April 4, 1998 Buffalo Bandits Oncenter War Memorial Arena L 16–20 4,084 2–9 12 April 11, 1998 @ Buffalo Bandits KeyBank Center L 10–19 12,745 2–10 1999 schedule [ edit ] Game Date Opponent Location Score OT Attendance Record 1 January 9, 1999 Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) Oncenter War Memorial Arena W 19–12 1–0 2 January 23, 1999 @ Rochester Knighthawks Blue Cross Arena 3 January 29, 1999 @ Buffalo Bandits HSBC Arena 4 February 5, 1998 Baltimore Thunder Oncenter War Memorial Arena W 15–14 2–0 5 February 26, 1998 Rochester Knighthawks Oncenter War Memorial Arena 6 February 28, 1998 @ New York Saints Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 7 March 6, 1998 @ Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) Wachovia Center 8 March 13, 1999 Toronto Rock Oncenter War Memorial Arena L 12–19 2–1 9 March 26, 1999 @ Toronto Rock Maple Leaf Gardens L 12–19 2–2 10 March 27, 1999 New York Saints Oncenter War Memorial Arena 11 April 3, 1999 @ Baltimore Thunder 1st Mariner Arena 12 April 10, 1999 Buffalo Bandits Oncenter War Memorial Arena W 14–11 3–2 References [ edit ] ^ "Syracuse Smash Franchise History (1998-2000)" . statscrew.com . Retrieved August 2, 2019 . ^ All three were "co-coaches" v t e National Lacrosse League 2025 Season Teams Albany FireWolves Buffalo Bandits Calgary Roughnecks Colorado Mammoth Georgia Swarm Halifax Thunderbirds Las Vegas Desert Dogs Ottawa Black Bears Philadelphia Wings Rochester Knighthawks San Diego Seals Saskatchewan Rush Toronto Rock Vancouver Warriors Awards NLL Cup MVP Rookie of

376-830: A new major junior league for Western Canada that could compete against teams across Canada for the Memorial Cup . The Blades became one of seven founding members of the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League in 1966, which became the Western Canada Junior Hockey League in 1967, the Western Canada Hockey League in 1968, and, finally, the Western Hockey League in 1978, after the admission of American-based clubs. The Blades are

423-595: A record attendance mark of 12,588 on 9 February against the Lethbridge Hurricanes , 25 years to the day since the opening of their arena. However, the team lost its first round playoff series against the Medicine Hat Tigers, and won just one game at the Memorial Cup tournament. After hosting the 2013 Memorial Cup, it became known that the Brodsky family was looking to sell the Blades after 37 years of ownership. In August 2013, Brodsky sold

470-693: Is the only former Blades' player inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame . List of Blades' players who also played in the National Hockey League (NHL): In addition to the seven retired numbers, the Blades unveiled a banner honouring former captain Bruce Gordon in 2017. Gordon went on to a long career in policing and later attended law school, before he was diagnosed with cancer and died in 2017. Bob Clarke Trophy (WHL top scorer) Four Broncos Memorial Trophy (WHL player of

517-605: The COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the 2020 playoffs and a heavily modified 2021 campaign without playoffs. The team finally found more on-ice consistency as the WHL returned to regular scheduling in the 2021–22 season. In 2022–23, the Blades posted their first 100-point season since 2011, and went on their deepest playoff run since 1994. The Blades met the Regina Pats—captained by top NHL prospect Connor Bedard —in

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564-489: The Canadian national team from 1967 to 1969, as its coach and general manager, roles he filled for most of the 1970s. McLeod also became part owner of the franchise from 1976 to 1980 after he partnered with two others, including Nate Brodsky, to buy the team from Piggott. Under McLeod's guidance and with star players like Bernie Federko , Bob Bourne , Larry Sacharauk , Brent Ashton , Randy Ireland , and Blair Chapman ,

611-586: The Edmonton Rush . The Rush turned things around on the field, twice claiming West Division titles and twice making it to the NLL Championship, winning the league title in what would be their final season in Edmonton in 2015. However, as the team's existing arena lease came to an end in 2015, it became clear that year that despite successful play another relocation was possible and that Saskatoon

658-700: The Georgia Swarm . After losing the first game of the series, the Rush led game 2 14–13 before the Swarm tied the game in the dying seconds and won in overtime, denying the Rush a third-consecutive title. However, the Rush returned to the final for a fourth-straight season in 2018 after again winning the West Division. In the championship final, they defeated the Rochester Knighthawks 15–10 in

705-538: The Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League , the other major tenant of the SaskTel Centre, in 2013. When NLL play resumed in 2022, the Rush struggled to regain their previous form. After a 4–10 start to the season, the team fired McComb as coach, with Keenan and assistant coach Jimmy Quinlan taking over as associate coaches for the remainder of the year. Despite winning their final four games,

752-653: The Swift Current Broncos , met the Broncos in the Final, losing in overtime by a score of 4–3. The Blades finally returned to the championship series twice in the first half of the 1990s, both times facing the Kamloops Blazers . Coached by Lorne Molleken and led on the ice by the likes of Glen Gulutzan , Richard Matvichuk , Rhett Warrener , Wade Belak , and Norm Maracle , the Blades lost both

799-462: The 1980s were the opening of the new Saskatchewan Place arena in 1988, and hosting the 1989 Memorial Cup there. The Blades' first game at the new rink took place on 9 February 1988, a 4–3 victory over the Wheat Kings, a game in which the Blades trailed 3–0, in front of a sell-out crowd of 9,343. In the 1989 Memorial Cup tournament, the Blades, who lost in the third round of the WHL playoffs to

846-431: The 1989 Memorial Cup final. For most of the team's history, the Blades have sported royal blue, gold, and white jerseys featuring a variation of a skate blade logo that has become known as the "Pac-Man." They dropped that logo from primary status in 1993, and dropped yellow from the colour palette in 2004, opting for navy blue and white on a new skate logo, with the skate blade emerging from stylized "SB" initials. In 2017,

893-468: The 1992 and 1994 finals 4 games to 3 against Blazers teams that went on to win the Memorial Cup, part of a run of three Memorial Cups in four years for Kamloops, the only team to achieve such a feat. The run to the 1994 finals would mark the last time the Blades would advance past the second round of the WHL playoffs for nearly three decades. Before 1997, the Blades had failed to qualify for the post-season only five times; between 1997 and 2008, they would miss

940-462: The 2020 season, Keenan announced that he was stepping aside as coach after eight years, although he stayed on as manager and promoted former assistant Jeff McComb to the head coach position. Keenan left the coaching ranks as the NLL's all-time leader in coaching wins with 155. In May 2021, the team was bought by Mike and Colin Priestner of Priestner Sports Corporation, who had previously purchased

987-613: The 50-win plateau for the third time. In the playoffs, they defeated the Prince Albert Raiders in five games and swept the Rebels in the second round; they lost to the eventual-champion Moose Jaw Warriors in their second straight third round appearance in a 7-game series that featured a WHL-record six overtime games, including all four hosted in Saskatoon. The season also saw the Blades play their record 4,000th game in

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1034-507: The Blades emerged as a contending team in the 1970s, missing the playoffs just once and making three finals appearances. Saskatoon finished with the league's best record in 1972–73 and made their first ever appearance in the league final, which they lost to the Medicine Hat Tigers . The Blades topped the East Division in both the 1974–75 and 1975–76 seasons and made consecutive finals appearances; they lost both in seven games to

1081-542: The Blades re-adopted their classic colour scheme and logo. Like many major junior teams, the Blades frequently don special event jerseys, such as Star Wars -themed jerseys they wore in a 2015 game. In September 2018, the Blades wore a special jersey to honour the Humboldt Broncos after the Broncos bus crash earlier that year. In 2022, the Blades unveiled their first Pride -themed jerseys, which they wore on

1128-703: The Blades' home in Saskatoon—all three cities are connected via Highway 11 . The Blades have faced the Pats in the playoffs seven times and the Raiders eight times. The only other teams they have met in the post-season eight times are the Broncos—including five meetings since the franchise returned to Swift Current from Lethbridge in 1986—and the Brandon Wheat Kings. The Blades also faced the Broncos in

1175-546: The Edmonton Rush. The following lists Saskatchewan Rush first-round selections in the NLL Entry Draft . * First overall selection When the Rush moved to Saskatoon, the team updated the Edmonton Rush branding by changing the colours, replacing silver with green in the logo and on the jerseys. In September 2023, the team launched a new logo designed to connect more with the team's home. The new logo features

1222-491: The NLL. Syracuse Smash Former NLL professional box lacrosse team Syracuse Smash [REDACTED] Based in Syracuse, New York Arena War Memorial at Oncenter Colors black, blue, white and gray Later Ottawa Rebel 2001–2003 & Edmonton Rush 2005-2015 Currently Saskatchewan Rush 2016-Present The Syracuse Smash were

1269-481: The QMJHL Champion Laval Titan . The Blades finished first in the round robin with a 2–1 record, including a 5–4 victory over the Broncos, who had a 14-game undefeated streak dating back to the start of the WHL playoffs, including a third-round sweep over the Blades. Their record gave the Blades a berth in the Memorial Cup final, where they lost a re-match to the Broncos, 4–3 in overtime. It was

1316-691: The Rush went on to miss the playoffs for the first time since moving to Saskatoon with a 8–10 record. After the season, Quinlan was named the new head coach. The Rush went 8–10 again in the 2023 season, missing the playoffs for a second straight year. Roster updated 2022-11-01 NLL Transactions *2020 season ended in March 2020 because of COVID-19 **Before the 2022 season Derek Keenan stepped down as head coach. New hire Jeff McComb would go on to be fired mid-season. General Manager Derek Keenan and Offensive Coach Jimmy Quinlan became associate head coaches. Note: This list does not include head coaches from

1363-525: The WHL. The Blades have never won a WHL championship for the chance to compete for the Memorial Cup . However, Saskatoon has hosted the Memorial Cup tournament twice, in 1989 and in 2013, enabling the Blades to participate. In 1989 , a year after the team began playing at Saskatchewan Place, the Blades were joined by their provincial counterpart and WHL Champion Swift Current Broncos , the OHL Champion Peterborough Petes , and

1410-545: The West Division with a 13–5 record and advanced to the championship final, where they faced the Buffalo Bandits . The Rush won back-to-back games in the best-of-three series, clinching a second-consecutive championship–and their first in Saskatchewan–with a last-minute 11–10 victory at SaskTel Centre on 4 June 2016. Goalie Aaron Bold was named Champion's Cup Most-Valuable-Player. In addition to their success on

1457-2930: The Year Defensive Player of the Year Transition Player of the Year Offensive Player of the Year Goaltender of the Year Sportsmanship Award Les Bartley Award GM of the Year Executive of the Year Tom Borrelli Award Teammate of the Year Weekly Awards Monthly Awards Articles All-Star Game PLPA Family relations Hall of Fame Seasons Entry drafts Expansion drafts Dispersal drafts Team Capsules Former teams All-time Records Rosters Television coverage Related Articles: Box lacrosse Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse v t e Defunct National Lacrosse League teams Albany Attack Anaheim Storm Arizona Sting Baltimore Thunder Boston Blazers Charlotte Cobras Chicago Shamrox Columbus Landsharks Detroit Turbos Edmonton Rush Minnesota Swarm Montreal Express New England Blazers New Jersey Saints New Jersey Storm New York Riptide New York Saints New York Titans Ontario Raiders Orlando Titans Ottawa Rebel Panther City Lacrosse Club Philadelphia Wings (2nd incarnation) Pittsburgh Bulls Pittsburgh CrosseFire Portland LumberJax Rochester Knighthawks (original) San Jose Stealth Syracuse Smash Vancouver Ravens Washington Power Washington Stealth Washington Wave Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Syracuse_Smash&oldid=1221860054 " Categories : Defunct National Lacrosse League teams Lacrosse clubs established in 1998 Lacrosse clubs disestablished in 2000 1998 establishments in New York (state) 2000 disestablishments in New York (state) Lacrosse teams in New York (state) Lacrosse in Syracuse, New York Hidden categories: Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Saskatoon Blades The Saskatoon Blades are

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1504-473: The best record of the 2010–11 season. Despite trading for star forward Brayden Schenn , the Blades lost in the second round to the eventual champions, the Kootenay Ice . Saskatoon also hosted its second Memorial Cup tournament in 2013. The Blades appeared to be peaking towards the end of the WHL regular season, winning 18 straight games between late January and early March. During that run, the Blades set

1551-781: The championship series, the Blades have never won the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league playoff champions. The team has twice hosted the Memorial Cup tournament, in 1989 and in 2013. The Blades were established in 1964 as members of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League , evolving from the Saskatoon Junior Quakers, who had played in the league since 1956. Owner Jim Piggott saw the team as a junior affiliate for his minor professional Western Hockey League Los Angeles Blades . However, Piggott became an instrumental figure in establishing

1598-431: The city and ultimately took over as general manager. This marked the beginning of a challenging on-ice period for the Blades, who had sacrificed draft picks and prospects for trades in anticipation of a longer 2013 Memorial Cup season. The team missed the playoffs for five consecutive seasons from 2014 to 2018. Led by Kirby Dach , the Blades returned to the playoffs in 2019 and won their first playoff series since 2011, but

1645-606: The city its first professional sports team in decades, and the Rush joined the CFL 's Saskatchewan Roughriders as a second professional team in the province. The new team would open their inaugural season as defending NLL champions. Derek Keenan , who became coach and manager of the Rush in 2010, made the move to continue those roles in Saskatchewan. After the move to Saskatoon, the Rush managed to keep their on-field success going. In their inaugural season, Saskatchewan finished atop

1692-500: The field, the Rush were a success at the gate, regularly drawing sell-out crowds. The team held a championship rally in downtown Saskatoon on 7 June. In 2017, the team reached a new sponsorship deal with Saskatoon Co-op , under which the team's venue is referred to as "Co-op Field at SaskTel Centre" during Rush games. The Rush again topped the West Division in 2017, and returned to the Championship Final, this time facing

1739-661: The first Memorial Cup final contested between two teams from the WHL, let alone from Saskatchewan. The tournament set a new attendance record. In 2013 , which marked the 25-year anniversary of their home arena, the tournament included the WHL Champion Portland Winterhawks , the OHL Champion London Knights , and the QMJHL Champion Halifax Mooseheads . The Blades finished the round robin with

1786-420: The first round, the first playoff matchup between the teams since 2006; the Blades set new attendance records against the Pats, selling out multiple games to the capacity of 14,768 for the first time in team history. Despite losing the first two games of the series on home ice, the Blades won the series 4 games to 3, winning the decisive game 7 at home by a score of 4–1. In the second round, the Blades became just

1833-461: The match 11–10 in overtime at SaskTel Centre, and thus failing to advance to the championship final for the first time since relocating to Saskatoon. During the 2020 season , the Rush were leading the West Division with a 7–3 record when the season was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the season was ultimately cut-short, and the playoffs and 2021 season were cancelled. After the cancellation of

1880-586: The only team to have played every WHL season in its original location—the Regina Pats were also a founding team, but briefly left the WHL to re-join the SJHL at the end of the 1960s. The Blades, playing out of the 1930s-era Saskatoon Arena , were a middling team in the late 1960s, failing to win a playoff series in any of their first six seasons. The Blades hired Jackie McLeod , a former National Hockey League (NHL) player from Regina who had also managed

1927-544: The playoffs six times, despite boasting future NHL players including Martin Erat , Mike Green , Devin Setoguchi , Anton Khudobin , and Braden Holtby . After moving to the professional ranks in 1995, Molleken returned to coach the Blades in 2004, a role he would keep until 2013. He added general manager duties in 2011, and stayed in that role until 2014. The Blades won another regular season title in this era, finishing with

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1974-422: The presence of new star players and future NHL figures like Lane Lambert , Brian Skrudland , Wendel Clark , Trent Yawney , Marc Habscheid , Todd McLellan , Curtis Leschyshyn , and Tim Cheveldae , the Blades continued to fall short of the elusive league championship. The team topped the league standings in both the 1982–83 and 1987–88 seasons, but failed to advance to the finals either season. The highlights of

2021-480: The radio voice of the Rush. As part of its exclusive broadcast rights to the league in the 2018–19 season, all Rush telecasts moved to the streaming service B/R Live , with Ryan Flaherty on play-by-play, former Vancouver Stealth play-by-play announcer Jake Elliott on colour, and local radio personality Daniella Ponticelli as reporter. As of the 2022 season, TSN carries all Rush games on either television or streaming on TSN+ as part of its national broadcast rights to

2068-585: The series-deciding third game to secure a third title in four years, winning the inaugural National Lacrosse League Cup , which replaced the Champion's Cup that season. Jeff Shattler, who scored four goals in the final match, was named MVP. Saskatchewan posted the best record in the West for a fourth-straight season in 2019, but lost the West Division playoff semi-final to the Colorado Mammoth , dropping

2115-602: The team to Edmonton businessman Mike Priestner, who had previously attempted to purchase the Kamloops Blazers in 2007. Priestner had played as a goaltender in the league for the Kamloops Chiefs in 1974–75, while his son James tended goal for the Blazers and two other teams from 2007 to 2011. The new ownership expressed a commitment to keeping the team in Saskatoon, and Mike's son Colin Priestner moved to

2162-415: The third team in WHL history to win a series after falling behind 3 games to none, defeating the Red Deer Rebels at home in game 7 by a 5–2 score. The Blades' run came to an end in their first third-round appearance in nearly 30 years, when they were swept by the top-seeded Winnipeg Ice . The Blades followed this up in 2023–24 with their fifth Scotty Munro Trophy for best regular season record, reaching

2209-427: Was a likely candidate. In Edmonton, the team had struggled to consistently draw fans, facing competition from the Edmonton Oil Kings junior hockey team, and were denied the ability to promote the Rush branding within Rexall Place by the Edmonton Oilers . Lacking any agreement with the City of Edmonton to play at its new arena, Rogers Place , Urban opted to relocate for the 2016 season . The move to Saskatoon brought

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